13 President Quotes For The Fourth Of July, Because Our Country's Leaders Know What's Up

July Fourth marks a very important day for America, because of what happened in 1776 when America's 13 colonies became independent from England. It was kind of a big deal, and these president quotes for the Fourth of July will tell you exactly why. Hint: your freedom.

The Fourth of July represents the United States' independence, both in relation to England, as well as internally. America is a country that prides itself on the rights of its citizens, and none of that would have ever come to be if it weren't for July 4, 1776. Freedom has come at a large cost, and while the United States still may not be the perfect country, it is lightyears ahead of much of the modern world.

From George Washington to more recent leaders, no one understands the liberties to be found in this country quite like the president does. In addition to that, nobody can articulate how precious of a thing our freedom is quite like these Commanders-in-Chief do. Republican or Democrat, take some time to deck yourself out in red, white, and blue and absorb these powerful words below while relishing in the freedom that America offers to its citizens. Happy Fourth of July!

1. "Posterity — you will never know how much it has cost my generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make good use of it." — John Quincy Adams

2. "Our greatest happiness does not depend on the condition of life in which chance has placed us, but is always the result of a good conscience, good health, occupation, and freedom in all just pursuits." — Thomas Jefferson

3. "Freedom has its life in the hearts, the actions, the spirit of men and so it must be daily earned and refreshed — else like a flower cut from its life-giving roots, it will wither and die." — Dwight D. Eisenhower

4. "I would rather belong to a poor nation that was free than to a rich nation that had ceased to be in love with liberty." — Woodrow Wilson

5. "Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free." — Ronald Reagan

6. "If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter." — George Washington

7. "Patriotism is easy to understand in America. It means looking out for yourself by looking out for your country." — Calvin Coolidge

8. "Any people anywhere, being inclined and having the power, have the right to rise up, and shake off the existing government, and form a new one that suits them better. This is a most valuable — a most sacred right — a right, which we hope and believe, is to liberate the world." — Abraham Lincoln

9. "The American Revolution was a beginning, not a consummation." — Woodrow Wilson

11. "The way to secure liberty is to place it in the people’s hands, that is, to give them the power at all times to defend it in the legislature and in the courts of justice." — John Adams

13. "America is a nation with a mission — and that mission comes from our most basic beliefs. We have no desire to dominate, no ambitions of empire. Our aim is a democratic peace — a peace founded upon the dignity and rights of every man and woman." — George W. Bush